(Original post by sumergocogito)
You sound really passionate about this topic. I wish you all the best.

I am planning to go to the UK coming September for LLB. I'm really fascinated by law, and studying in the UK lets me go right into law school after high school. In Canada, you need an undergraduate degree before you can go into law school, so its a different concept for us. I feel a bit young, but I figured that I rather jump into it now while I'm enthusiastic than wait four years and maybe lose sight of where I want to go.

Be very careful! My cousin's husband did his LLB at Edinburgh, and wasn't allowed to write the bar in Canada.

(Original post by caligulina)
Be very careful! My cousin's husband did his LLB at Edinburgh, and wasn't allowed to write the bar in Canada.

This is a very good point. Are you planning to practise in Canada? From the cursory look I've had at the requirements (I have no intention of lawyering outside Australia) if you don't have a Canadian law degree, you may have to jump through some rather onerous hoops in order to qualify.

You've probably looked at this closely, but if not, Caligulina is right, you should be very careful.

But I wouldn't worry about being too young - I started my law degree when I was 17 and it was fine. That said, I do think there is a lot of merit in the way they do things in North America, and a lot of Australian law schools (including mine as of this year) are also moving to a JD format. As long as you're happy with the way qualification will work, I think it's win/win whether you go straight in or wait until you've graduated from something else.

(Original post by Dubie)
This is a very good point. Are you planning to practise in Canada? From the cursory look I've had at the requirements (I have no intention of lawyering outside Australia) if you don't have a Canadian law degree, you may have to jump through some rather onerous hoops in order to qualify.

You've probably looked at this closely, but if not, Caligulina is right, you should be very careful.

But I wouldn't worry about being too young - I started my law degree when I was 17 and it was fine. That said, I do think there is a lot of merit in the way they do things in North America, and a lot of Australian law schools (including mine as of this year) are also moving to a JD format. As long as you're happy with the way qualification will work, I think it's win/win whether you go straight in or wait until you've graduated from something else.

Thanks for the heads up.

I recognize the issue with studying in Scotland, and that's why I was skeptical about applying to Aberdeen (I did anyways). I've looked into it and if I come back to Canada with an LLB from England I just have to take a couple of courses (that would take 5-10 months) and take the NCA exams. From there I'd be at par with the rest, at which point I could write the bar and do the articling. However, I should check that this applies to all the law schools, especially KCL since I plan to be going there. Having said that, I think I would go anyways considering it's KCL!!!!! in LONDON!!!!!

(Original post by Eddyward)
Congrats!! hope you got into the universities you wanted
Could I inquire what universities you applied to and whether you did the IB?

I applied to Oxford, UCL, Bristol (which is where I'm going!), RHUL, and Exeter. I didn't do the IB, but I was in the "gifted program" () at a school, which has sort of similar standards to the IB. Anyway, the official qualification was the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Where are you applying, and for which subject?

(Original post by punctuation)
I applied to Oxford, UCL, Bristol (which is where I'm going!), RHUL, and Exeter. I didn't do the IB, but I was in the "gifted program" () at a school, which has sort of similar standards to the IB. Anyway, the official qualification was the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Where are you applying, and for which subject?

I am planning for Oxford, LSE, UCL, KCL and either Queen Mary or Warrick. I will be applying for the law program haha. Oh nice! the OSSD is quite similar to A -Levels right? I'm kinda undecided on whether i should sent my IB marks or my Dogwood (BC Diploma) marks in to ucas...
Do you think it would be easier with IB? My issue is that they do have quite standards for IB marks, and they don't post exact average acceptances for Canadian certifications...

Hey everybody. I'm a Canadian (half-Canadian, actually) who has lived all over the world in his 18 years thusfar and currently resides in Switzerland (the other nationality I possess). I'm going to be studying International Relations and Politics at the University of Sheffield this coming academic year but may just decide to do a study abroad year (my second year) at the University of Toronto.

(Original post by Eddyward)
I am planning for Oxford, LSE, UCL, KCL and either Queen Mary or Warrick. I will be applying for the law program haha. Oh nice! the OSSD is quite similar to A -Levels right? I'm kinda undecided on whether i should sent my IB marks or my Dogwood (BC Diploma) marks in to ucas...
Do you think it would be easier with IB? My issue is that they do have quite standards for IB marks, and they don't post exact average acceptances for Canadian certifications...

Ah, lovely! You should apply to Bristol. No, seriously, their law program is actually quite good!

The OSSD isn't similar to A-levels, actually, haha. It's similar to the US high school program, in some ways? It's very different from A-levels, though. I had a friend in IB (who also applied to some overseas unis) who mentioned he had taken some classes that are also offered in the OSSD. So I think it's more similar to IB than A-levels.

In any case, I would recommend you submit your IB marks. Since it's an "international baccalaureate" it's recognized more easily across the world. However, I did have someone who mentioned to me anecdotally, that IB offers are sometimes higher than those at the diploma level. I can't compare with that, or say whether that's really true, but it's your choice.

In my opinion, the IB will probably give you more offers, but the BC diploma will probably make it easier to achieve those (possibly fewer) offers you receive. It's really your choice. If you're doing very well at the IB, I definitely suggest the IB.

For Canadian certifications, I emailed my unis and asked for the Canadian OSSD equivalent, which should be similar to the BC equivalent. I suggest you do the same. They're fairly prompt and friendly. Send them a nice email with the phrase, "I'll be applying for Law for 2013 entry at [your uni]. I am doing the Canadian BC diploma. What would be the equivalent grade requirement?" with some "please"s and "thank you"s in there. haha

In very broad terms:

A*AA-AAA is an average of 90 or higher to have a good chance at getting a place
AAA is an average of 85-90 (or higher, obviously)
AAA-AAB is an average of 80-85ish

Of course, depending on some circumstances, and prior performance, some of the smaller unis may give you lower offers because they know they want to give you a place... you know? For example, even though RHUL has an AAA-AAB typical offer, which would translate to a conditional offer of 80% or higher, their condition to me was a "pass" which is only 50% or higher. Granted, the unis that do this are probably not the unis you want to attend...

Finally, if you're using the BC diploma, I think you choose 5 out of your 7 Grade 12 courses, right? For regular Canadian unis?

Well, the conditions that the UK unis give you will be exactly the same. For example, in Ontario, we need 6 out of 8 (or more) Grade 12 courses to use for Ontario uni applications. My offers from UK unis were, "An average of 80% or higher in six OSSD subjects" or "An average of 85% or higher in six OSSD subjects, including English" English is a prerequisite anyway for the OSSD Grade 12, so they'll do things like that.

Some unis may ask you for a specific subject, e.g. if you were doing Physics they would probably ask for one of your subjects to be maths; however, since you're doing Law, I doubt this applies to you.

ETA: Don't be afraid to ask more questions! I'm also open to questions about the Oxford college/interview/etc. system. Oh dear, didn't this post turn out so very long, though!

Another ETA: Why don't you apply to SOAS? They also have a good ranking and they're in London, which it seems that you like!

(Original post by punctuation)
I applied to Oxford, UCL, Bristol (which is where I'm going!), RHUL, and Exeter. I didn't do the IB, but I was in the "gifted program" () at a school, which has sort of similar standards to the IB. Anyway, the official qualification was the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Where are you applying, and for which subject?

(Original post by punctuation)
Ah, lovely! You should apply to Bristol. No, seriously, their law program is actually quite good!

The OSSD isn't similar to A-levels, actually, haha. It's similar to the US high school program, in some ways? It's very different from A-levels, though. I had a friend in IB (who also applied to some overseas unis) who mentioned he had taken some classes that are also offered in the OSSD. So I think it's more similar to IB than A-levels.

In any case, I would recommend you submit your IB marks. Since it's an "international baccalaureate" it's recognized more easily across the world. However, I did have someone who mentioned to me anecdotally, that IB offers are sometimes higher than those at the diploma level. I can't compare with that, or say whether that's really true, but it's your choice.

In my opinion, the IB will probably give you more offers, but the BC diploma will probably make it easier to achieve those (possibly fewer) offers you receive. It's really your choice. If you're doing very well at the IB, I definitely suggest the IB.

For Canadian certifications, I emailed my unis and asked for the Canadian OSSD equivalent, which should be similar to the BC equivalent. I suggest you do the same. They're fairly prompt and friendly. Send them a nice email with the phrase, "I'll be applying for Law for 2013 entry at [your uni]. I am doing the Canadian BC diploma. What would be the equivalent grade requirement?" with some "please"s and "thank you"s in there. haha

In very broad terms:

A*AA-AAA is an average of 90 or higher to have a good chance at getting a place
AAA is an average of 85-90 (or higher, obviously)
AAA-AAB is an average of 80-85ish

Of course, depending on some circumstances, and prior performance, some of the smaller unis may give you lower offers because they know they want to give you a place... you know? For example, even though RHUL has an AAA-AAB typical offer, which would translate to a conditional offer of 80% or higher, their condition to me was a "pass" which is only 50% or higher. Granted, the unis that do this are probably not the unis you want to attend...

Finally, if you're using the BC diploma, I think you choose 5 out of your 7 Grade 12 courses, right? For regular Canadian unis?

Well, the conditions that the UK unis give you will be exactly the same. For example, in Ontario, we need 6 out of 8 (or more) Grade 12 courses to use for Ontario uni applications. My offers from UK unis were, "An average of 80% or higher in six OSSD subjects" or "An average of 85% or higher in six OSSD subjects, including English" English is a prerequisite anyway for the OSSD Grade 12, so they'll do things like that.

Some unis may ask you for a specific subject, e.g. if you were doing Physics they would probably ask for one of your subjects to be maths; however, since you're doing Law, I doubt this applies to you.

ETA: Don't be afraid to ask more questions! I'm also open to questions about the Oxford college/interview/etc. system. Oh dear, didn't this post turn out so very long, though!

Another ETA: Why don't you apply to SOAS? They also have a good ranking and they're in London, which it seems that you like!

Oh gosh! Thanks for the really informative and lengthy post! I reckon you could replace my school counselor haha.

Oh I see, sorry I thought OSSD had a 13 year program like A - Levels.
That's true, I was always planning on submitting my IB marks until it didn't seem there was a lot of IB offers for law... Then again, TSR doesn't exactly represent the offer holder population. I am doing well in the IB, compared to the norm, but not AMAZING compared to the other applicants for top tier universities... I will most likely get predicted somewhere from the 38 - 41 range with 776 at HL. The average IB mark is 31, while anything above 35 is usually considered McGill worthy haha... Usually around the 40 mark is where the Ivies come in.

My dilemma is that my BC Dogwood grades that would be converted from my IB marks would be quite high... 3 subjects would be in the 100 - 98% range, 1 would be in the 95 - 97% range and 2 would be 85 - 95% (roughly). I'm not quite sure how many subjects are submitted, as I don't take grad trans, but if it were only 5 then I could omit my lower mark (being Biology :P).

To compare the A-Levels and IB requirements, for example, at Oxford, for Law they require AAA or a 39 (766 HL). If the Canadian equivalents are similar to your statements then wouldn't my dogwood marks be much better?
I will now email them promptly about the equivalents for BC though.

Speaking of lower offers, did you find any UK universities gave you preference over mainland students? I know this is controversial and may just be some conspiracy theory conjured up by unhappy British applicants, but I'm just really curious whether this is true or not?

I'm not worried about the 'Law specific courses', as my arts/socials subjects are really strong. I'm only worried about Biology at the moment - which may effect my overall IB mark. :/

I'm sorry for asking more questions haha, but I'm sure they'll eventually run out?
On the note of Oxford, do you have any advice if I get an interview?

I did think of Bristol! My issue was that it also requires the LNAT, and it's law (IB) requirements were also 38, which is very similar to KCL. I think I'd favour KCL over Bristol, just because of location and possibly better relations to city firms? haha
SOAS was also on my radar, but having a limit of only 5, I had to pick QMUL over it. :/ QMUL has a lower requirement for IB (36) and it has a growing reputation for law :P I think I'm going to end up picking QMUL over Warrick too.

Sorry for the equally long post! I kinda felt compelled to write a long post in response to yours ahah.. :P

Hm, you should probably submit your BC diploma marks, then, since it looks nicer. Then again, you should definitely email them before deciding on one or the other. However, you should remember for Oxbridge, your grades really don't matter that much in the long run. It's the admissions test results (so the LNAT) and your performance at interview that really get you the place.

I don't know about UK universities giving internationals preference, sorry. It's impossible to discern since each applicant is wildly different in many aspects outside grades, and it's difficult to compare between those accepted and rejected.

Sure, I can give interview advice. Any particular questions? One thing I will suggest, though, is that if you are invited to interview, you fly over there to have an interview in-person. The experience is unrivalled to a Skype interview; with an in-person interview, you get to stay at your college, sleeping, eating, chatting with really wonderful other candidates, visit the city, etc. etc. Also, I would probably say with an in-person interview you "have a better chance" because the tutors have a more personal interview experience with you, than over Skype. It's worth the money.

(Original post by punctuation)
Hm, you should probably submit your BC diploma marks, then, since it looks nicer. Then again, you should definitely email them before deciding on one or the other. However, you should remember for Oxbridge, your grades really don't matter that much in the long run. It's the admissions test results (so the LNAT) and your performance at interview that really get you the place.

I don't know about UK universities giving internationals preference, sorry. It's impossible to discern since each applicant is wildly different in many aspects outside grades, and it's difficult to compare between those accepted and rejected.

Sure, I can give interview advice. Any particular questions? One thing I will suggest, though, is that if you are invited to interview, you fly over there to have an interview in-person. The experience is unrivalled to a Skype interview; with an in-person interview, you get to stay at your college, sleeping, eating, chatting with really wonderful other candidates, visit the city, etc. etc. Also, I would probably say with an in-person interview you "have a better chance" because the tutors have a more personal interview experience with you, than over Skype. It's worth the money.

Okay, I think I'll talk to my counselor about it first and email the universities before making a decision haha. I don't think the LNAT will be too hard, but do you have any tips on preparing for it?

I am planning to go to Oxford if I am invited for an interview. It's around early December right?
In relation to the interview, are the Law questions based more on your interest in Law or Law related questions? For example, on the Oxford site, one of the questions had something to do with parking violations resulting in the death penalty.

(Original post by Eddyward)
Okay, I think I'll talk to my counselor about it first and email the universities before making a decision haha. I don't think the LNAT will be too hard, but do you have any tips on preparing for it?

I am planning to go to Oxford if I am invited for an interview. It's around early December right?
In relation to the interview, are the Law questions based more on your interest in Law or Law related questions? For example, on the Oxford site, one of the questions had something to do with parking violations resulting in the death penalty.

I haven't taken the LNAT, so I don't have any answers in that area, sorry. However, I think for the law interview, the Law questions will be primarily based on Law. Questions about your interest in Law may be given by the tutors in the first few minutes, just to ease you in. However, as most candidates will not have taken any Law course prior to their interview, the tutors want to know if their candidates really do know some Law. It's not necessary to rote memorize every single law ever, but some basic knowledge will probably help your critical reasoning skills for any questions they throw at you.

(Original post by punctuation)
I haven't taken the LNAT, so I don't have any answers in that area, sorry. However, I think for the law interview, the Law questions will be primarily based on Law. Questions about your interest in Law may be given by the tutors in the first few minutes, just to ease you in. However, as most candidates will not have taken any Law course prior to their interview, the tutors want to know if their candidates really do know some Law. It's not necessary to rote memorize every single law ever, but some basic knowledge will probably help your critical reasoning skills for any questions they throw at you.

(Original post by Eddyward)
Okay, I think I'll talk to my counselor about it first and email the universities before making a decision haha. I don't think the LNAT will be too hard, but do you have any tips on preparing for it?

I hated the LNAT. Did just enough to get a spot, then Exeter stopped using it. It's the most useless thing and has really had no bearing on my ability to study law.